This invention relates to a driver's side airbag membrane horn switch assembly, and more particularly to a horn switch of the airbag assembly having a rigid back plate, which is integral with and carries elements of the membrane switch.
Driver side airbags are conventionally mounted on steering wheels along with horn blowing switch arrangements. A number of horn switch assemblies have been proposed which suffer disadvantages with respect to the method of mounting, as well as actuation inconsistency requiring improvement in both areas.
For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,490 assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the membrane horn switch is installed into a semi-rigid pocket which has been thermally bonded to the back of an airbag cover. Although satisfactory, this requires secondarily attaching a pocket to the cover for switch containment.